I've been using both the creatine and glutamine select, my question is when should i stop using it if i have four weeks until my show???

You should be good with the creatine all the way up to your show, you may want to drop the glutamone select a few weeks out ans substitute muscle mass BCAA'S.

EROD - Do you have a BI coach/rep? If so discuss this with them. There may be some benefit to stopping creatine use during your carb deplete phase and then reintroducing it during carb up. I personally don't see an issue with keeping glutamine in all the way through - it is mostly there to help with recovery.

VA,
Thanks for the reply. I do have Jeremiah as my B/I guru.

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Originally posted by JESSE:
You should be good with the creatine all the way up to your show, you may want to drop the glutamone select a few weeks out ans substitute muscle mass BCAA'S.

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Is there a good reasoning for dropping glutamine select a few weeks out? I would be more apt to drop creatine a few weeks out. Just trying to find out.

Sorry it took me so long to respond. Extra L-glutamine will convert and be stored as glucose. I personally take it all the up to 1 week out as it's one of my prime supplements pre-contest.

Jesse - My suspicion would be that you would have to be taking a very large quantity of glutamine for it to be converted into glucose, probably far more than the average person here would be taking. Did the research you base your comment on metion quantities? In reality too much protein can also be conveted into glucose and ultimately into bf, but it is an inefficient conversion process and one that most people are unlikely to experience.

For my last show, Jeremiah had me drop glutamine around 3 weeks out, for the reasons Jesse mentioned, I typically use 20G per day in 2 servings. Since I am an endo, and prior to that show had dropped a lot of weight, I think Jeremiah did it to play it safe based on my body's tendencies.

I did keep creatine in all the way. It helps with strength, especially since calories are dropping, and helped me get through my workouts.

I don't know if there's one right or wrong answer, it's very individual.

Dwayne

I have always been told by Roger that Glutamin is readily converted to glucose. BUT I think that this is more appicable for those that are not doing much or have more fat to loose.

So if you are on track I agree the little bit of Glutamine in Glutamine Select is probalby not going to increase insulin levels enough to impair fat loss.

This is part of the reason it helps so much with recovery, especially around training time, ie right after or before. And also the reason for the claims (I think it was Serrano) that it greatly improves strength when taken before training, treated like a carb.


Creatine should be fine all the way through. There is some merit to stopping use and then loading or adding it back after the depletion.
Ray

I have heard that Glutamine and Arginine compete for the same receptors. Since arginine is important in fluid balance in the final week then there may be some validity in lowering glutamine the final week. I could be wrong but it makes sense in theory.